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The New Testament is full of stories about events which seem turned around, backward, upside down, even ironic. Such is the narrative of Jesus standing before Pilate. The Pharisees had trumped up charges against Jesus and had accused him of blasphemy and treason. These were two separate charges. The accusation of blasphemy was a religious charge sure to turn the common people against him. After all, how many people would follow a leader who blasphemed against God? The second charge of treason was supposed to turn the political leaders against Jesus. How could they allow him to continue if he was plotting the overthrow of Rome?

So Pilate found himself in quite a dilemma. He had on his hands a prisoner who was accused of disloyalty to the Jews' religious traditions and disloyalty to Pilate's political power. What do you do with such a man as this?

The answer to this question brings us to today's text. Jesus was taken before Pilate after his arrest. His accusers, the Jews, would not even enter the palace to bring their charges against him. They wanted to be able to eat the Passover and would have become ceremonially unclean had they gone into Pilate's palace. They did not mind condemning an innocent man to death, but they did not want to become soiled for the ceremony! Verse 31 shows us that they had already made up their minds to execute Jesus. They just did not want to get dirty doing it.

So Pilate, the so--called ruler, found himself being a glorified lackey. He shuttled back and forth between the Jews outside and Jesus inside. This is the great irony - almost comedy - of this narrative. Pilate was supposed to represent everything of the kingdom of imperial Rome - authority, power, wealth, and if necessary, the ability to shed blood. And look at the one he was questioning that day - Jesus. Jesus was representative of a kingdom, too. But his kingdom was not advanced by ruthless men. His kingdom had no authority to twist arms and spill blood. It had no wealth but the hearts and minds of men and women.

So Jesus and Pilate stood there facing each other in the imperial palace so long ago. Pilate shuttled back and forth between the inner chamber where he questioned Jesus and the outer courtyard where the accusers were. The poor man could not even see that he was being manipulated by them. He was supposed to be the leader, the one in charge. Yet he failed miserably.

When he could not figure out what else to do, Pilate questioned Jesus. Look at the session. Jesus - the so--called prisoner - is firmly in control in John's account of this meeting. Pilate asks, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He gets no direct answer but only a counter question: "Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me?" What sort of answer is that? It flusters Pilate and he shoots back with all the bravado he can muster, "Am I a Jew?" He is so afraid of losing his kingdom. Poor man. He cannot even see that he is looking at the embodiment of another kind of kingdom, a kingdom built on the Lordship of God and the principle of love of neighbor.

"My kingdom is not of this world," Jesus says. Yes, there it is - both an admission of guilt and a protest of innocence. Jesus admitted that he was the king of his kingdom. For the Jews this was blasphemy and for Pilate a serious threat to his power. But neither had heard what Jesus really said: "My kingdom is not of this world." Two kingdoms collided in their presence, and nobody even heard the crunch!

Pilate had the armies and the cash and the power, yet he was helpless as an infant when face to face with Jesus. The swords and the treasury meant nothing when stacked up against a solitary figure who was looking beyond the confines of this sad world. "My kingdom is not of this world." It is a word that still needs to be sounded today.

When the church today wants to be "powerful" or "victorious" it had better take heed as to just what it means. Power and victory are always idols which drain the church and misdirect its path. The church that wants to be "victorious" in this world will lose its soul. For this reason, Christians today must keep the vigil against the lust for power and victory at the expense of service, love, and forgiveness.

Long ago Pilate questioned Jesus. That meeting marked the collision of two kingdoms. Pilate is dead and dust. Ancient Rome is but a mention in the history books. But Jesus Christ is alive and his kingdom is still spreading in the lives of women and men who give him their allegiance. There is no real question as to which kingdom outlived the other. The question for us is, "Which shall we serve?"